


Querencia

by atari_writes



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 07:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14280201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atari_writes/pseuds/atari_writes
Summary: Querencia: a place we feel safe, a ‘home’ from which we draw our strength and inspiration.





	Querencia

A soft, high pitched noise slowly pulls you out of a deep sleep, and you sigh. Your phone must have ended up under the bed again, muffling your alarm. You roll over and try to pry the dead weight of Frank’s arm off of your body, but during the struggle you see your phone on the nightstand, no alarm going off. 

You collapse back into Frank—who immediately makes a happy noise and drapes himself back over you—and stare at your suspiciously silent phone, groaning when you see the time on the alarm clock. So much for sleeping in. 

You lay still for a minute, listening to the silence of the early morning, convinced you were going crazy. But you’d definitely heard something loud enough to wake you up. Your eyes search your small bedroom for what it could have been as one of your hands absentmindedly runs through Frank’s unruly hair, making him groan and nuzzle his face further into your neck. You give him a small smile before going back to your search.

Your eyes linger on the drawn curtains that cover the window to the fire escape. A sudden panic seizes you, then leaves. If anyone was out on your balcony at six in the morning, it was one of the neighbor kids or a stray animal. No one was coming to burgle you before the sun was up…right?

You stare at the curtains for another minute, debating whether to leave the comfy embrace of your boyfriend, when you hear it again. A high pitched squeak. And this time you were sure it was coming from the fire escape. 

You give Frank a small kiss and whisper a soft apology before slipping from his crushing embrace and off of the bed. The sudden movement makes Max jump and lift his head from his doggy bed to watch you. You make a shhh noise before straightening one of Frank’s old shirts you were using as a nightshirt and tiptoeing quickly over to the curtains. You wait a second, debating on waking up Frank to check it out for you, but a glance back at his soft sleeping form makes up your mind.

After sighing and fortifying yourself, you pull the curtain to the side and peek out onto the fire escape, expecting to see a kid smoking or some random hooligan but instead you see—

Nothing? There was nothing there.

You let out a small sigh and shake your head. You turn to Max and shake your head.

“I’m going crazy, Maxy! Crazy!” Your soft, high pitched dog voice causes Max to wag his tail ferociously and stumble out of his bed towards you. You get down on your knees and scratch at his head and back and any part of his body he pushes into your hands. “Ooh, who’s a good boy, Maxy? Is it you? Are you the good puppy?” You can hear you annoying yourself, and you know you probably shouldn’t be getting Max this riled up this early in the morning, but he was so damn cute.

You’re still sitting in front of the fire escape window when it happens again, but this time it’s two squeaks, one right after the other. You and Max pause, and he hurries to sit up, then tilts his head towards the window, trying to figure out what was out there. 

“It’s alright, Maxy.” You give him a pet and push back the curtain again to search the fire escape one last time, gasping when you see the three small cats all alone on the balcony. Unfortunately, Max sees them too, and immediately starts to growl at them through the window. 

You grab his little doggy face and whisper real close to him, “Maxy, shh! Don’t wake up your dad! They’re just little kittens.”

He seems to understand they aren’t a threat, and backs up and sits with a huff. You glance back at Frank, who’s turned over onto his back, but otherwise seems to still be fast asleep. You sigh and stand, using your foot to keep Max back as you open the window and slip outside.

The cool fall air causes goosebumps to rise on your legs, and you bite back a shiver. The three little kittens creep toward your feet and start meowing louder. The first one reaches your legs and starts using his little claws to try and climb your leg.

“Awww, poor little guys.” You crouch down and start rubbing them, trying to warm them against the cold air. Soon all three of them are tripping over each other trying to get to you, and you sigh. Just the other day, Frank said it wasn’t a good idea to feed the strays, because soon you’d have the entire animal population of Hell’s Kitchen on your fire escape. But this was just three little kittens that couldn’t take care of themselves.

Mind made up, you stand and step behind them, scooping them into your arms all at once. “Alright, y’all are comin’ with me. Francis won’t mind.” You duck back through the open window. At least Frank was still asleep and you’d have a little but to think of a good argument for keeping them. 

You stand and lift your foot to the ledge of the window to shut it again. “Alright,” you whisper to the kittens. “We’ll get y’all nice and warm—“ you turn and freeze, mid step. Frank stands in front of the bed, watching you with a tired expression. You see him trying to process the scene in front of him. You, standing in just his shirt, three kittens in your arms, surprise at being caught written all over your face. 

He sighs. “Come on baby…” You hear the absolutely not coming, and set into defensive battle mode.

Good things: You were in one of his old shirts (which he loved), your legs were bare, and you knew he could see part of your lacy underwear where the shirt had ridden up.

Bad things: he was grumpy in the mornings and tended to say no to things like three new boarders in the Castle Halfway House for Wayward Animals.

You had to go in hard. “Franky, before you say no, just look at these poor little guys! It’s getting so cold and they’re so small!” As if sensing the dire need to be convincing, two of them give out pitiful meoooows. “Baby, please. They just need to stay for a little while! Until they’re big enough!” You can see Frank’s resolve melting, and his tired eyes are shifting between the pitiful kittens and your thighs, his sleep addled brain distracted by the exposed skin. Nice. Bring it home. 

“Baby, they don’t have a momma. They just need someone to look after them. Just for a little while.”

You can see him physically trying to say no, but the little stinkers were just too damn cute. He lets out a long, heavy sigh and runs a hand over his face. “Shit,” he mutters. “Fine. The fuckers can stay.”

“Oh, baby, you’re the best.” You take the few steps over to him and reach up to press a small kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, Franky.”

He tries not to smile, but seeing you so happy gets to him and he can’t help the upward tilt of his mouth. He clears his throat and tries to clear his face. “Whatever,” he grunts. “You coming back to bed?”

You nod, already heading to the kitchen. “I’m gonna get them some milk, then I’ll be back,” you call over your shoulder. 

A grunt is the only answer you get, then a “C’mere, Max.” And a sigh as he collapses back into bed.

Ten minutes later, the kittens were dry, warm and fed, and you were headed back into the bedroom. You take a minute and watch Frank lying in bed, eyes closed and a hand on Max’s head, scratching his ears. You try not to laugh. Frank was such a big fucking softy. His only rule was no dog on the bed, but apparently you’d really gotten to him, because there was Max, cuddled up to Frank’s side.

You creep up and dump the kittens on the pillows near Frank’s head, making him jump and look over at you. “Seriously?”

You smile and lean over to peck him on the lips. “Just a sec, baby.” You rush over to the closet and grab the spare small dog bed you had “for animal emergencies.”

After settling the cats into their new little home, you slip into bed, slotting your body into Frank’s, sliding the dog bed close to your stomach. You smile and watch the kittens pile together and curl up, purring softly. Frank moves, curling his body around yours. He pulls the blanket up over the two of you, then slips his hand underneath to rest on your thigh. He snakes his other arm under your head and plants his face in your neck, letting out a soft sigh.

You can’t fight the content smile as you feel Frank cozying up to you. “Francis, look at our little babies,” you whisper, watching the kittens slowly fall asleep. He grunts, and you feel him lift his head to look at them.

You wait a beat, then turn your head to see his reaction. He has the softest smile on his face as he watches them take their small, shallow breaths. “Adorable,” he agrees. “Our babies are adorable.” He plants a big, wet kiss on your cheek, then puts his face back on your neck. “I love our little family,” he whispers. 

Butterflies erupt in your stomach and you feel a stupid, lovesick smile forming on your face. “I love it, too.”


End file.
